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Arencibia homers twice in blowout win over Phils

Starter Johnson sharp, striking out eight in 5 1/3 scoreless innings

J.P. Arencibia solidified himself as one of the best power-hitting catchers in 2012 and will be the Blue Jays' everyday starting backstopper

By Gregor Chisholm
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MLB.com |

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- J.P. Arencibia homered twice and drove in five, and Jose Reyes added three RBIs as the Blue Jays roughed up left-hander John Lannan in a 13-4 win over the Phillies on Monday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Arencibia's productive day started in the second as he doubled to lead off the inning. Toronto then got RBI singles from Mark DeRosa, Rajai Davis and Melky Cabrera, while Reyes added a two-run triple.

The biggest blow of the inning was when Arencibia came to bat for the second time. He sent a deep fly ball over the wall in straightaway center field for a three-run shot. Lannan allowed six hits while walking a batter and hitting another during the eight-run frame.

Despite the disappointing second, Lannan came back for the third only to see his struggles continue. Reyes had an RBI single and then, in the fourth, Arencibia added his second homer on a shot to right-center field. It was his fourth homer of the spring.

Lannan was charged with 12 runs on 14 hits while striking out two in four innings. It was by far his worst outing of the spring, and his ERA during the Grapefruit League season is now 8.50.

Right-hander Josh Johnson had a completely different day starting for the Blue Jays. He allowed only four hits while striking out eight over 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

The only blemish for Johnson came in the third when he walked Ben Revere on six pitches. It's a relatively minor detail, but one that became noteworthy because it was the first walk Johnson issued this spring.

Johnson's spring ERA is now 1.13 in five appearances. He has allowed only eight hits while striking out 21 in 16 innings.

"It's been a long spring but a good one," Johnson said. "I threw a lot of good pitches out there today, just take that into the season. Fastball location has been there pretty much the entire time, as long as you can do that, then you can start working on the other stuff, hone that in, sum everything up and get it going for the season."

The Phillies scored four runs off Brett Cecil in the ninth.

Up next: Left-hander Ricky Romero will get the call on Tuesday afternoon when the Blue Jays play host to the Pirates in a 1:05 p.m. ET game at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. It's a critical start for Romero, who is working on new mechanics while trying to fight off J.A. Happ for the final spot in Toronto's starting rotation. Right-handers Dustin McGowan and Sergio Santos are expected to follow Romero. An exclusive webcast of the game will be available on MLB.com.